A Simple Way to Increase Your Libido AND Improve Your Health

If you’ve been looking for a way to feel sexier, increase your libido and improve your health, I’ve got a great strategy for you. It’s something we can all do that will help us look better, feel better and have more energy – all of which are good for our bodies and our sex lives! And it doesn’t involve spending money or taking weird pills.

So, what is this strategy that helps you feel and look great and gives your libido a nice boost? It’s regular exercise – moving your body in ways that get your heart pumping and your muscles working. I know you were hoping it was something easier (I was too!), but give me 2 minutes to try to convince you. First, I’ll share 4 ways exercise can help you feel sexier and increase your enthusiasm for sex and intimacy. Then, I’ll suggest 3 things you can do to get started this week on a regular exercise routine.

4 Ways Exercise Can Increase Your Libido

•Exercise can help prevent serious illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and some forms of cancer. These diseases can make you feel bad, deplete your energy level, and increase stress – all while reducing your libido, making it difficult to enjoy sex and intimacy. Some of these diseases impede blood flow, which is essential to sexual interest and performance. Exercise also boosts overall immunity, and may help prevent colds and other minor illnesses. So when you exercise and maintain good health, you eliminate a major cause of sexual disinterest, fatigue and frustration.

•Exercise increases stamina and energy. It seems like exercise would tire you out, but the opposite is actually true. Unless you’re exercising very intensively, exercise actually increases your energy and stamina. Being sedentary – spending most of your day sitting rather than moving – is what makes people feel drained. Because fatigue saps women’s interest in sex more than just about anything else, it makes sense that women who feel energetic are more likely to be interested in and enjoy sex.

•Exercise promotes healthy body weight and a positive body image – Sexy women come in all shapes and sizes, and we don’t have to look like models to feel confident and sexy. But the reality is that many of us feel overweight and out of shape, and that feeling inhibits our ability to feel sexy and enjoy sex. Regular exercise makes it easier to lose weight, and for many women even a small weight loss helps them feel better about their bodies. For me, this is probably the most important libido-boosting benefit of regular exercise – when I maintain a healthy weight and stay reasonably fit, I feel much more freedom to enjoy sex with my husband than when I gain weight or get out of shape. Exercise also tones muscles (which can lead to a trimmer body, even without weight loss) and increases flexibility. Bottom line – regular exercise can help us feel sexier.

•Exercise makes you feel good. Regular exercise helps your brain release endorphins, chemicals that reduce pain and make you feel good. Research shows that exercise also reduces depression and may reduce anxiety. In addition, studies show that women who exercise regularly become aroused more quickly and reach orgasm more easily – and that in and of itself is a great reason to exercise!

So, as you can see, the potential benefits of exercise for women who want to boost their libido are significant, and I really encourage you to give it a try. Here’s my suggestion – Try it for one month. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week for the next month.* When the month is over, assess how you feel and decide whether it’s worth the effort to continue. Are you interested in giving it a try? If so, here are some tips for getting started.

Are you willing to try it for one month? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll support each other.

1. Make it a priority. Decide that you are worth it. You deserve a strong, healthy, sexy body, and developing that kind of body requires regular exercise. Enlist your husband and children in your plan. Recognize that your “to do” list may need to change this month, in order to make room for exercise. Many women do everything for everyone else and nothing for themselves. That will have to change.

2. Pick several activities you enjoy and can fit into your schedule. “Exercise regularly” doesn’t have to mean “go to the gym.” You can go to the gym, but you can also walk, bike, swim, hike, dance, run around with your kids, lift weights, do yoga or work out with a DVD in your living room. Try to do two or three different things each week, to benefit different parts of your body.

3. Figure out ways to fit 30 minutes of one of those activities into your day, 5 days a week. (Or 40 minutes on 4 days – the goal, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, is about 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week.) Think you don’t have time? You may have to make time. Break it up across your day. Walk for 15 minutes at lunch and 15 minutes in the evening. Take your children to the park – but don’t sit on the bench. Walk around the soccer field while they’re at practice. Walk while they’re at dance class or music lessons. Use any exercise equipment you have in your house. Change the way you do things so that moving, rather than sitting or standing, becomes your “default setting.” (For more ideas, check out 10 Tips for Adding Exercise to a Busy Life. and Exercise Routines and Tips for Busy Women.)

Have you ever tried regular exercise as a way to increase your libido or feel sexier? If not, are you willing to give it a try for a month? Let me know in the Comments. I’d love to hear from you and to support you as you give this a try.

*According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, moderate exercise is safe for almost everyone, and the health benefits far outweigh the risks. However, if you have a significant health problem or any health concerns about exercise, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program.

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Comments

Hi! Thanks for sharing your thought on getting fit. I’ve started working out 3 times a week for about 8 weeks now. My main goal is to get more energy. Although I can feel my body getting stronger. My energy levels are still pretty low. Keeping up my fitness routine is going pretty good though!

Hi Mandy – I’m so glad that you’re seeing results from your new fitness routine. I hope that you’ll eventually see an increase in energy along with your increased strength. I see from your blog that you’ve met with a trainer and gotten professional exercise and nutrition advice, which is such a smart thing to do when you’re getting started.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I’d love to hear how things progress.
Gaye

Hi Shanna – I am so glad you are going to give it a try! Please do let me know how it goes. For me, maintaining libido and interest in sex is always a work in progress – I have to be very intentional about it. And exercise helps, in that it helps my body feel better and helps keep my weight under control.

Don’t despair, Gaye. I have been on a bit of a hiatus and recently posted a 4200+ word post. It’s had no Likes and only one comment out of about 120 visits. Women’s sexuality is a hot button topic to some extent so you’d think people couldn’t resist giving their opinion. I can’t let the fact that no one is commenting or liking discourage me. I know the post is well-written and well-researched so I just keep doing what I do. It’s not about the response to any single post or series but the mission of the blog and the entire body of work and I have no doubt you are reaching women. It’s one thing to share about your problems over coffee, quite another to put them out there in a comment that you can’t recall if you would want to. Just because they don’t always comment back doesn’t mean they aren’t reading and having their lives changed.

Excellent decision. I read around a lot in the blogosphere and it pains me to see a blog were it is obvious someone is pouring much of themselves into their posts and they get no comment feedback. There is always the possibility for some it is more a form of journaling I suppose, but it can be difficult to continue the effort when you do want response from others.